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RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said she loves her uncle, Mitt Romney, and her rebuke of his criticism of the president was just part of her job. "I would have done this any freshman incoming senator." | Michael Conroy/Getty Images

McDaniel: 'I love my uncle' Romney, but GOP should unite behind Trump

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Thursday insisted there were no hard feelings between her and her uncle, Sen.-elect Mitt Romney, after Romney's blistering criticism of the president put the two family members publicly at odds.

In an op-ed published Tuesday night by The Washington Post, Romney savaged Trump's leadership and wrote that the president "has not risen to the mantle of the office." McDaniel, in response, wrote on Twitter that "for an incoming Republican freshman senator to attack @realdonaldtrumpas their first act feeds into what the Democrats and media want and is disappointing and unproductive."

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In an interview on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” McDaniel argued again that infighting within the GOP was wasted energy that could be better spent opposing congressional Democrats as a new era of divided government begins. But she said Romney understood that her tweet the previous day that knocked her uncle's scathing editorial was simply part of her job.

“I love my uncle. My tweet yesterday had nothing to do with family,” she said. “I would have done this to any freshman incoming senator and I would have said, 'Hey, let's focus on the real issues here, which are the Democrats that are proposing dangerous policies for our country.'”

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McDaniel confirmed that her uncle gave her a heads-up about the op-ed and said Romney also reached out to her following her response on Twitter.

“He sent me a note. Our family fights, I mean, not fights, but we’ve had disagreements about politics for a long time. This is part of our family. He said you have got to do what you have got to do. He understands,” she told Fox News’ Steve Doocey.

McDaniel, who dropped her maiden name of Romney after becoming chairwoman of the RNC in 2016, urged unity, portraying the family drama as necessary for the good of the party.

“The reality is I acted as party chair, he’s going to act as senator," McDaniel said. "I’m going to say to anybody in our party, our voters want you to support our president.”For his part, Romney echoed those sentiments in an interview Wednesday on CNN.

"I respect her right to express that viewpoint," he told anchor Jake Tapper, calling McDaniel's tweet "probably more civil than it might have been across the Thanksgiving dinner table."

But, he said, "She's a very loyal Republican, loyal to the president and she's doing what she thinks is best for him and for the party."